Personal Narrative: My Native Country

Unfortunately, my native country has numerous amounts of problems that lead my family to look for better opportunities in the Unites States. As a child, my parents taught me to fear and always be alert while walking in the streets. This was due to the crime and violence we were surrounded by. My parents are both Cuban, but moved to Costa Rica with my two older brothers before I was born. I grew up in a city called San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. Although this was one of the safest placed to live, the fear of getting robbed inside our own home would not let us sleep in peace.

When I was five years old, I remember waking up one night and walking to the kitchen to grab a cup of water. To my surprise, there was an unfamiliar man coming in through the window. I ran to my mother’s room and in tears told her there was a stranger in the kitchen. My dad grabbed a bat and with courage went to defend his house. My mother grabbed the phone and called the cops; they arrived when the robber had already left. The man did not get to take anything that night, but he did not give up. He tried again, this time he made sure it was during day while the house was empty. No matter how much security we tried to have in our

home, we never felt safe.

This was not the only problem we had to face while living in Costa Rica.

My parents were financially unstable due to unemployment. I was too young to understand how difficult it was for them to support our family. Although my parents are great people they felt rejected in many places they would go to including their jobs. Their accent was noticeable enough for people to give looks and make them feel like they didn’t belong there. These problems eventually started to get to us, my brothers were surrounded by bad influence in school. They stopped caring about their education and looked for jobs to give my parents financial support. My mother suffered a lot, this was not the life she wanted for us. Therefore, they started investigating of ways to get to

America.

After eleven years living in Costa Rica, they finally obtained VISA to come to the United States. We sold every piece of furniture we had and collected enough money to afford the cost of the trip. We arrived to the US in April, 2006. The beginning was not easy for any of us because our lives had changed drastically, but with time we accustomed to a new lifestyle and eventually started building our way to success. My brothers and I learned a whole new language and created hopes of going to college and earning the life we always dreamed of.

Today, we are happy to say we have accomplished many of our goals. I am earning a degree in the field I am passionate about and have many plans for my future. I thank god and my parents for giving me the opportunity of having a better life. Their hard effort paid off at the end. Although my dad is currently disabled and my mother does have the job she wished for, at least I have the chance to give them the life they deserve. Now is time for me to fight for them and to move forward just like they taught me to do so. The main advantage is that now I am in a place that fills my life with hope, motivation, freedom, and peace.